Laboring to Uncover the Truth

Meanwhile, unions must file financial statements only once a year, don’t have to have their audit certified and are rarely investigated by the government. That doesn’t stop them from complaining, of course. As Labor Secretary Elaine Chao points out, the AFL-CIO claimed that it would have to spend “more than $1 million” to comply with OLMS’s reasonable terms. “In fact,” Chao points out, “filling out the new disclosure form cost the AFL-CIO $54,150.” Quite a difference.

Unions control some $22 billion, a staggering amount of money. All of it comes from their members. These workers deserve to know what union leaders spend their hard-earned money on -- whether it’s the $65 million the National Education Association gave Jesse Jackson’s liberal pressure group in 2005 or the $130,000 salaries earned by 49 union leaders at AFL-CIO headquarters last year.

OLMS is clearly doing a job that needs to be done. Its hundreds of criminal convictions prove that. Union leaders and their political puppets may not appreciate its efforts, but the rank-and-file should be cheering its watchdog activities this Labor Day.